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The Red Mile......Times are tough
3/30/09 from The Watchdog Committee

During this time of economic turmoil for our country

the Red Mile is forced to make

changes for cost efficiency. On

Monday,

March 09, 2009,

member of the Watchdog

Committee

walked into the Red Mile to

buy the usual 2

programs for $1.00 for our

favorite simulcast tracks, only to find the

standard,

homemade, fan favorite, less

expensive programs were replaced with a

condensed

Daily Racing Form version that

was

to have every track simulcast by the

Red Mile in it

for $4.00

Then we found out

that not

all of the tracks are

in the DRF

program, mainly the quarter horse tracks

were missing

(not that we

harness

horsemen bet on quarters, but if you are selling a

program with

everything in

it,

should it not have everything in it???)

The quarter horse track programs were being

printed the old way and given to

anyone

who wanted one, free of charge.

Unfortunately, this particular day, they were

out of

some of the tracks’.

We polled all 26 patrons in the entire facility this day

All 26 of

them said they were

pleased by the move.

our

of them walked out and said they will

take their money

Keeneland where a program

with eleven tracks

only costs $2.50. All

26 of them

signed a

petition circulated as proof to Red Mile

management that they will only lose

customers

instead of gain them.

What are the reasons for the change? Red Mile management did not comment on the

situation, but other employees did. According to them, the Red Mile printed what

should

have been a total of $90,000 worth of programs on the old system from

January 1 to

December 31, 2008. (These numbers are an average guesstimate of

what the staff there

stated)

The sales collected during the same year’s time came to

$19,000 (again an

average guesstimate). What happened to the $71,000 of program

sales money that

went missing

hy was someone or a group of individuals not

held

accountable for the

missing money? We do not know.

Last point of conjecture…there is a sign posted in the Red Mile Wagers Room that

states, and again I am paraphrasing here, “If you do not wager $100,000.00 or more

per year, then your programs are no longer free.” This committee

's investigative

reporting found

only

ive

patrons

that

make that cut.

hat’s all well and good for

those

ive

patrons. It is also

well and good for the Red Mile

that some patrons

spend

$100,000

or more.

We guess each of you will have to get a better job or hit the

lottery or a big

Pick Six

or Superfecta in order to hope to make that level of

contention. In the

meantime, at

least our actions have resulted in a reduction of the

program fees for four

of the

seven days of the week. For now, we will have to live

with that.

We all wonder what is wrong with the economy and the harness racing industry

these

days. We hope The Red Mile will not have to close its doors to simulcasting

and we also

hope their live race

meet will not only consist of Grand Circuit and Stakes

races as those

cheaper claimers

are the backbone of harness racing in Kentucky. Only

time will tell what

fate holds for

our future.

In addition to the program expense,

other

issues

concerning

the facility’s cleanliness

were

also brought up by patrons when petitioned. (

heir

thoughts were passed

along to

the powers that be regarding these issues.) Our attempts to reach Joe

Costa,

President

and CEO of the Red Mile regarding the programs and the facility

were in

vain

However,

we like to commend the track for their quick response to our email as

Julie

Sorrell,

Director of

Mutuals

and Simulcasting did respond. (A copy of

the email sent

and

her

response

is below.)

Here's a copy of the email:

Dear Mr. Costa,

We, the Watchdog Committee, represent Kentucky Harness Racing fans and horsemen and women and

their

opinions. Attached please find a copy of a petition to your company in protest of the simulcasting

programs

change to the new DRF $4 per book system. On Monday, 3/9/09, there were 26 patrons in your

facility. All 26 of

them signed the petition and voiced their negative opinions on the price of the programs

your company is now

selling. Some purchased them with much regret and chagrin while most abstained. In

these tough economic

times and with the struggling harness industry, we understand the need for a price

increase of certain things,

but to force a patron that may only bet one or two tracks to buy a book with

multiple tracks in it and expect

them to pay a 400% increase is unacceptable. We kindly ask that you

research and employ another system that

is more cost effective for your company and more affordable for

your patrons. Also, I thought you should be

aware that many of the patrons voiced opinions on the

cleanliness or lack thereof of your facilities and

comfortability when compared to other venues, namely the

likes of Keeneland and other harness tracks in the

country. Our efforts here are to make your facility a

better place to be for our mutual supporters and we hope

this is seen as a positive attempt at that and

nothing less. We understand there were issues with the old

program system and money not reaching its

intended destination, but the patrons should not be punished for

this issue to the extent this price

increase/change is languishing what little customer base you have left. An

article to be published on www.

kyharnessracing.com with regard to this situation awaits release. We would like to

have some response from

you on this matter before releasing said article to give you a chance to respond. Tell

us what's happening.

We await your response in kind.

The Watchdog Committee

Lexington, KY

Here's is a copy of the response:

Dear Watchdog Committee,

In response to your recent email about our switch to the Daily Racing

Form Harness Program, we will lower

the

cost of the program Sunday-

Wednesday’s to

our cost of $3, effective immediately. It was, and is our

intention

provide our patrons

with a more comprehensive program equal to our thoroughbred

competitors. We did

take

into consideration those who only wager on one or two

tracks,

but still felt the

improved quality far outweighed

the additional cost to those

patrons. Please note, there

is a discount when

we have 18+ tracks racing. Patrons

who play multiple tracks will be

paying less for their programs with the

new format. A

patron would be paying at

least

$9 (on the old system) to receive a program for each.

The

cost is now reduced to $3-

4.00. Of course, we

encourage our patrons who are

viewing an individual track to

download that program (on their own) and remove

their

Red Mile cost completely. As to

the cleanliness of

our facility, we would appreciate

further

information on

this subject.

Those who have been coming to our

facility

for years have seen the improvements that

we are

continuously making. If

there is

an issue with

cleanliness, we want to rectify that

immediately.

Please provide us

with

specifics so that we may address this

problem.

do thank you for your feedback,

and hope that you will

continue to

give us feedback as

we go

forward.

Sincerely,

Julie Sorrell

Director of

Mutuals

& Simulcasting

The Red Mile

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